SEATTLE — The federal government is expanding a program that allows American Indian tribes to access national criminal databases and fix a system that allowed a man to buy a gun that was later used by his son to kill four classmates and himself at a Washington high school.
The Tribal Access Program, launched last year, lets tribes enter and search for records in the National Crime Information Database, used when someone tries to buy a firearm. The Justice Department chose 10 tribes, including two from Washington state, to participate in the initial phase of the program and announced this week that it has added 11 tribes to that list.
The Tulalip Tribe didn’t have access to the database, so a domestic violence protection order against Raymond Fryberg was never entered and he was able pass a background check and purchase a gun that was later used by his son, Jaylen, to kill four classmates and himself at the Marysville-Pilchuck High School in October 2014.
Washington state’s U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said gaps in data-sharing had tragic consequences.